Bergkamen

Bergkamen
Town
Bergkamen city hall
Bergkamen city hall
Coat of arms of Bergkamen
Coat of arms
Unna (district)North Rhine-WestphaliaEnnepe-Ruhr-KreisHagenDortmundRecklinghausen (district)Coesfeld (district)Warendorf (district)HammSoest (district)HochsauerlandkreisMärkischer KreisSchwerteHolzwickedeFröndenbergUnnaLünenBergkamenKamenBönenWerneSelm
Location of Bergkamen within Unna district
Interactive map of Bergkamen
Bergkamen is located in Germany
Bergkamen
Location within Germany
Bergkamen is located in North Rhine-Westphalia
Bergkamen
Location within North Rhine-Westphalia
Coordinates: 51°37′N 7°38′E / 51.617°N 7.633°E / 51.617; 7.633
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionArnsberg
DistrictUnna
Government
 • Mayor (2025–30)Thomas Heinzel (CDU)
Area
 • Total
44.9 km2 (17.3 sq mi)
Elevation
68 m (223 ft)
Population
 (2025-12-31)
 • Total
49,198
 • Density1,100/km2 (2,840/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
59192
Dialling codes02307, 02389, 02306
Vehicle registrationUN
Websitewww.bergkamen.de

Bergkamen (German pronunciation: [bɛʁkˈkaːmən] ⓘ; Westphalian: Biärgkoamen) is a town in the district of Unna, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated south of the river Lippe, approx. 15 km (9 mi) north-east of Dortmund and 15 km (9 mi) south-west of Hamm.

Bergkamen, a fairly new town in the east part of the Ruhr Area and south of the Münsterland, was founded in 1966 by the merging of at first five smaller communities. The town's history, however, reaches back to ancient Roman times - this can be experienced by visiting the Bergkamen Municipal Museum, which has a large Roman department, and the nearby archeological site, the “Roemerlager“.

Main sights

Cultural events

Bergkamen is home to theatre performances at the “studio theater bergkamen“ and numerous exhibitions in the town's own art gallery “sohle1“ or the “Stadtmuseum“

History

Memorial to the victims of the mining disaster on Grimberg 1946

In February 1946, a coal mine in the city suffered a dust explosion that killed 418 miners. This was the worst mining accident in German history.

Population

Politics

The current mayor of Bergkamen is Thomas Heinzel of the CDU, who has been serving as mayor since 2025. In the 2025 local election he was elected with 53,4 % of the vote in the runoff election against former mayor Bernd Schäfer of the SPD.

City council

After the 2025 local elections, the Bergkamen city council is composed as follows:

Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 6,556 34.3 Decrease 8.6 19 Decrease 2
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 5,221 27.3 Decrease 0.6 15 Increase 1
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 4,194 21.9 New 12 New
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 1,208 6.3 Decrease 10.6 4 Decrease 4
The Left (Linke) 1,033 5.4 Increase 2.3 3 Increase 1
Uphill (BergAUF) 584 3.1 Decrease 2.8 2 Decrease 1
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 346 1.8 Decrease 1.8 1 Decrease 1
Valid votes 19,142 98.4
Invalid votes 310 1.6
Total 19,452 100.0 56 Increase 6
Electorate/voter turnout 37,647 51.7
Source: City of Bergkamen

Twin towns – sister cities

Bergkamen is twinned with:

Notable people

Ernst von Bodelschwingh

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2025 – Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes auf Basis des Zensus 2022" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW.
  2. ↑ Exorcising Hitler; The Occupation and Denazification of Germany, Frederick Taylor, Bloomsbury Press
  3. ↑ "Landesdatabank Nordrhein-Westfalen Tabelle 12411-01i: Bevölkerungsstand - Gemeinden - Stichtag". Retrieved 26 August 2026.
  4. ↑ "Ergebnis". wahlen.kreis-unna.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-04-06.
  5. ↑ "Städtepartnerschaften". bergkamen.de (in German). Bergkamen. Archived from the original on 2019-07-01. Retrieved 2021-02-08.